Chapter 4 - Day 5 - Fredericksberg and Museums

June 13

Today we headed to the western side of the city, near Fredericksberg Castle and its surrounding gardens. We were intrigued by the fact that out there were Royal Copenhagen china and George Jensen design outlet stores!. They were a little disappointing as they had a limited selection. We did buy a couple of things as gifts.  Just like in the US some outlet stores are much better than others.  We did discover that a lot of current George Jensen items are made in China--How disheartening--

We walked from the stores through the nearby pretty neighborhood. 

We then went into the park. There was the castle....

A tree with a "nose"..

And a very pretty lake with birds.

But, by far, the most interesting feature in the park came just around a corner of the path...

"What is this?" you might ask...so did we. It was a "pacifier tree". The things hanging from the tree are bags with pacifiers, put there when a baby no longer needs one. From the web: http://classiccopenhagen.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-pacifier-tree.html. These are a "rite of passage" in Denmark! Ain't different cultures interesting!

Just outside the park exit was a temporary art exhibit space. In it was a fabulous show of a local textile designer. This is the kind of thing that makes travel great.

Lunch at Fredericks Have restaurant further brightened the day. 

It was another tasting combination-six small wonderful plates--herring, smoked salmon, scallops, chicken salad made with smoked and poached chicken as well as apples and walnuts, lamb sausage, and finally cheese.  Six small bites, but the flavors were remarkable. Accompanied by wonderful bread and a good German reisling it was a memorable meal.  

Being served by the owner who was clearly very proud of his restaurant in the bright sunshine sprinkled with showers as we ate outside definitely put a pleasant glow on the day.  

At the table next to us, there was a family celebrating a-low key wedding with the bride and groom still in full wedding gear. After the wedding lunch the bride and groom rode off together on their bicycles--only in Denmark:) Decided it would not be right to take a pic - use your imagination.

The afternoon was about two museums.  It was fun to take the bus around the city and continue to take in the ambiance,  like the stonework and carved wood doors.

The first museum was the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek art museum, built around the personal collection of Carl Jacobsen, the son of the founder of the Carlsberg Breweries. The building is old, rambling and somewhat charming.

 The art, especially Impressionists, is world class. Here are a variety of media by Gauguin:

But there was more of this quality...

Elaine especially loved the Rodins who were like old friends.

The best treat was a special exhibit of Degas sculptures.

Our other museum stop was the Danish Design Museum, not far from our apartment. We had high expectations, but it turned out to be just "good". It, too, was in an old, quaint building.

There were a few interesting items in their general collection.

The special exhibit, which took up most of the museum space, was about design as applied to children's things. There were a few unusual old things, like these:

And some modern items, too.

Some Danish designs are absolutely classic. Elaine's sons Jeff and Tim had the Marimekko quilt shown below--now a museum piece!

Perhaps the most interesting was this "new parents" kit provided by the Finnish Government as part of their social services.

A fun museum highlight was were "photo ops" in the lobby.

Dinner was another wonderful surprise. The Red Box was positioned as an Asian restaurant, but it was really a "new Nordic" restaurant with an Asian twist. 

The flavors were unusual and very good. The appetizers were a sampler with calamari, shrimp, scallop and hake scallop and tiger prawns in a red bean sauce. The mains were duck and lamb, both with Asian sauces that made them delicious and special.  The dessert sampler was a rhubarb tart, chocolate cake, creme brulee and fabulous earl grey ice cream.  

So quite a day, all in all...